Mass by by Joseph Wilens, Michael Wilens, John Beal

Mass

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Mass

Features

Composer: Leonard Bernstein

Conductor: Leonard Bernstein

Performer: Joseph Wilens, Michael Wilens, et al.

Label: Sony

Catalog Number: 63089

Audio CD (October 28, 1997)

Number of Discs: 2

Reader Reviews
In the years around the time Mass was premiered in 1971, Leonard Bernstein suffered a sea change, moving from untouchable cultural icon to dubious camp parody. At least that was the simplified perception in the mass media. Bernstein shocked a lot of people by ocming out of the closet, and Mass seems in retrspect a campy attempt to reconcile his own personal conflicts. Much of it feeds off Sixties youth culture in a pitiful attempt to sound like Hair: The Musical. Yet Bernstein could not entirely betray his gift for melodic invention, jazzy riffs, and earnest left-wing sincerity. He intended the work to restore him to the front ranks of American composers, but in that regard Mass was a debacle--he was never to write another popular or seriously regarded work until he died twenty years later. Today, Mass has enjoyed a revival of sorts (to my knowledge the composer never conducted it again), and its pop tone has always struck a chord with the public. This original cast recording now sounds much more like a Brodway musical than a religious work. Bernstein conducts with total conviction, but the sonics are edgy and unpleasant at high volume. I hope this new remastering corrects those flaws--I own the original. In the end, I've enjoued stage revivals of Mass but only by leaving music criticism at home.

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